Halford & Brough in the Morning - Which NHL Teams Improved The Most This Off-Season?

Episode Date: July 8, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason go around the NHL with ESPN Hockey's Greg Wyshynski (1:03), plus they get the latest on the Flames from Sportsnet Calgary's Eric Francis (26:56).  This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Music Second one on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday everybody. Halford Rupp, 4th Net 650. Halford Rough this morning is brought to you by Sands & Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for debt help. With over 3,000 five-star reviews, visit them online at sands-trustee.com. We are now in hour two of the program. It's rolling along here at the Halford and Brough show.

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the Power West Industries hotline here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Greg Wyshinski joins the program now. Good morning, Greg. How are you? Oh, I'm good. You got the margarita loaded in the blender, ready to call it a season with you boys. But first we must talk about all things hockey before I can slip into a blissful coma for at least three or four weeks. You know what's going to happen the moment that you pour that first margarita is this secondary trade market that so many people have talked about is going to fire up, forcing you back to work mid margarita, perhaps.

First of all, I'm never actually off. I was off last summer for a paternity leave, and that was like pretty eye opening and got to see how like the Pierre Lebrun's of the world live, where you just like unplug on July 2nd and then you don't hear a peep from them until like September. That was kind of fun. But like in all honesty, you know, there's still stuff coming down the pike. I mean, you know, the there's a little thing called the collective bargaining agreement

whose details we kind of know in broad strokes, but we don't know how all the I's are dotted and P's are crossed. So when that's finally announced, that'll be a good few days of work. But yeah, I mean, you know, I know what you're saying though, like every, I've talked to a few agents in the last week who all anticipate there to be some player for player action in the coming weeks, you know, because of free agency being in a real dead period and all the good players being taken off the market already. So I am anticipating hopefully there being some

of that action that they're anticipating because there's a lot of teams, a lot of money to spend and a lot of holes to fill. Yeah, and you know, I'm not sure if we should have anticipated this or not. I didn't quite anticipate it to the degree that it happened. With the higher salary cap, all these guys just stay input. And I know this is a classic Wyszynski trope

of guys just wanting to be where their stuff is. I don't want to move my stuff. I don't want to move anything. And a lot of guys took that to heart and stayed where they were. In Vancouver, Brock Besser got to the first minute of free agency and then decided to stay in Vancouver. Of course, everyone stayed in Florida as well.

It was one of the, I thought anyway, one of the really interesting dynamics of free agency was guys just staying put. It was, I wrote about that last week on ESPN, just the idea of how it became kind of creepingly apparent to the GMs in maybe like a couple weeks before free agency started that, you know, players that they anticipated that were gonna hit the market

probably weren't. In particular, the Florida guys, Brad True Living said that his anticipation was that they weren't going to actually be available, which is kind of interesting when you think about all the cap space TIA, the Leafs cleared out ostensibly for a run at Marshand. But yeah, it's sort of the unanticipated part of the cap going up, which is that it's less about being able to spend, spend, spend in free agency and trades, that it is simply being able to retain your talent. And without the pressure point of the cap, this was a point that a couple GMs made to

me, without the pressure point of the cap, that's one of the reasons why that we saw so little action at the draft because you do need deadlines and pressure points and I need to do this before I do that and with the cap going up, a lot of that went by the wayside. But the other part of it too, like you said, we always joke about the player stuff being there. It's also the team's knowing what the player stuff looks like. A couple GMs said to me, it's kind of the devil you know versus the devil you don't.

Why spend a bunch of money for what could be an upgrade when you already have a thing that you like and you can retain it just by hitting their price point and keeping them off the USA market. So a lot of that was happening too. What team comes to mind first when you think of a team that had the cap space and had the desire to do something significant, but just wasn't able to do anything? Toronto. I mean, they cleared the decks for something. I mean, and they obviously didn't have to worry about Marner's contract for next year either.

And so it was in service of what I thought was going to be probably a run at March end and that didn't materialize or maybe Bennett, maybe Eklat, maybe anybody from that Florida trio. Um, and they're kind of just left keeping their powder dry, which honestly, you know, if they couldn't do the things they wanted to do, and I think this goes for a few teams, like maybe just wait. I know, I know there's the weight of the world on your shoulders as a franchise to win the cup every season but if you're the Rangers if you're the Leafs and it's not there

for you then just kind of like spackle over some of the holes in your lineup and and then hope that you could take a really big swing next summer or maybe within the season when you when you know we talked about pressure points like when teams realize two months into the season that they're absolutely terrible, then players become available. Like if the Nashville Predators get off the blocks again and fall flat on their face and break their nose,

guess what? There's gonna be some players available from Nashville that might be able to help a team that has designs on contending. So I actually think it's, it's, you know, there are teams that definitely wanted to do more than they did, but there are also teams that are probably smart to keep their space open at the

moment. I like the quote from true living that you used in your article. He said, I know everyone wants to talk about second line centers. There's probably by my count, 27 teams that are looking for them. The ones that have them aren't given them out too

quickly. Is a second line center the new right shot defenseman? It's been for a while. I mean, the template for a winning team in this league has for a long time now been, you need two good centers, preferably one that's great offensively and preferably one that can do some of the dirty work and play a 200-foot game. You need to have two defensemen on two different pairings that can play, you know, 50 minutes of a 60-minute game if you needed them to. And you need a goalie that won't lose you a series, which has kind of been a problem for Edmonton. But he's absolutely right in the

sense that the second line center, that guy that gonna create a second scoring line that guy is gonna play You know be a defensive stopper if you need it that this sort of you know You think of like the Bruins with Bergeron and Cricci like that's the ideal setup But the ideal setup is you have two guys that can do the same thing, but I mean inherently When you look at the Leafs, I mean, how much better are they if they had Nazem Kadri a lot better because that brings them a defensive acumen and a snarliness that that team lacks. And those players aren't available right now, in particular Qajri, because the Flames still have designs on being a contender themselves. We're speaking to Greg Wyschinski from ESPN here on the Halford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650.

Another big talking point, this free agency period was tampering, especially prior to free agency. Did anybody get anywhere? The league, the clubs, the players, the agents any further in trying to either solve tampering, police tampering or figure it out at all? Or is this going to be part of the league moving forward where it's like a wink and a nudge that it exists and you're not supposed to do it, but it's kind of fun that you do because there's drama behind it. I just feel like we didn't really get anywhere

in trying to figure it out, but it certainly still remained a talking point. I'm still trying to figure out why it's a problem. I'm with you on that. Like I don't get it. Just tamper away, right? I mean, try. I mean, if my contract is up

and my representation doesn't at least have a sense of what else is out there Then one I'm probably screwed. Yeah, and then two like what am I paying them for? You know what I mean? so it's like I think all that stuff makes sense within the context of a real business world and and it should make stuff make sense in context of of the NHL like, you know the idea that. The idea that somebody on Vegas was like worm tongue from the Lord of the Rings and whispering into Mitch Marner's ear and convincing him to leave Toronto. I mean, that guy was not gone anyway. So at the very least, maybe they swayed it a little bit closer to where they are versus him looking at a place like Carolina. I don't know. But

the tampering thing ever was a problem for me. I, I still think that it was a mistake to get rid of that period in which people could talk leading up to July 1st. And I think the, the issue there for the league was that deals were getting done in that period, um, that shouldn't be done because it's not necessarily like negotiation time, it's kind of just like a discussion time, but it's too much, too much good work was getting done there.

And I do wonder at the end of the day, like, oh, how much of this is in service of July 1st being, you know, kept together integrity wise? I mean, this year, definitely, we heard a bunch of stuff about tampering and then lo and behold, there wasn't a deal announced until like 15 or 20 minutes into free agency. And you're like, oh, did everyone get the memo that we're trying to make this like a thing? Like we're all sitting around the TV watching TSN and Sportsnet and we wanna make it a thing?

Like, I don't know, it's such a nonsensical thing for me. Everyone talks to everyone. There's absolutely no way to police it unless you're gonna put surveillance equipment on every golf course in Ontario. There's no way you to police it unless you're going to put surveillance equipment on every golf course in Ontario. There's no way you can police tampering. I like to think the PR teams were told like, we've got the email ready to go. Just don't send it out yet.

Jason, Jason, that happened. I talked to one team that had a re-signing of a pretty significant player and their PR person said it's done, but we're not announcing it until I talked to them the day before. And it wouldn't even be tampering free. Free agency. It wouldn't have been tampering, but they, they literally said, we're not announcing it today. We're announcing it tomorrow. And I don't know if it was in service of trying to keep this thing exciting,

but it was definitely done. The press release is written, but there's no announcement until tomorrow. Maybe it's to get closer to when the GM was gonna be able to speak about it. I don't know, but that definitely happened where work was done on the day before the free agency, but it didn't get announced until the next day for reasons. Which team do you think improved the most?

Improved the most? Well, I mean, you could probably say Detroit has a goalie now. I mean, I don't know if they've overall improved the most. Um, I think the, I think the ducks did some interesting things, um, in, in service of, of a new coach who, if you look at, well, I'm not

exactly the biggest Quinville fan anymore, but like, if you look at his record, there's no doubt that, um, he gets results. I think he's only been under a 500 points percentage once in his career. And so, you know, with that, with that being said, if they, um, um, you know, it's, I think they're trending in the right direction. I think the mammoth did some interesting stuff too. The Paterka thing, maybe that's a little bit overhyped for what he's gonna be.

I mean, his ceiling seems like Cairo and his floor seems like maybe Verana, Jacob Verana could be his floor. So like no one's really sure what he's going to end up being there. But, you know, bringing in Nate Schmitz, a good, a good dude to have around or just want a cup, I think Tanniv will help them in their compete level. I think they've done some pretty decent things there too. With with designs on being a contender.

And then finally, like maybe the one I would probably give the highest grade to if I did the grades would be the hurricanes. Ehlers is better than Natchez and if he can stay healthy he's going to put up better numbers than Natchez in that system and Keontre Miller is a guy who again like within the structure of that team I think they see him as like a better version of the Brady Shea experiment which is take a guy from the Rangers who wasn't performing there, bring him into Carolina, put him in a Rod Brindlemore system,

and then watch him go. And if they can get those results with Miller, it's gonna be astounding. And then getting Oral off and Burns off your blue line is a nice bit of business too. So Carolina was really good too. We're speaking to Greg Wyshinski from ESPN here on the Haliford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650.

My favorite teams in free agency are the ones that do a ton of work. And then when the dust settles, everyone's like, I don't even know if they got better. And that category, almost exclusively for Ken Holland in the Los Angeles Kings right now, where they made a ton of moves and it left their fans kind of wanting. It left a lot of us media folks kind of wondering what they're doing. When you dug into that one, what did you hear about?

What people thought about what the Kings did on July 1 and then subsequently? The LA Kings? Yep. I mean, listen, they were they were clearly trying to position themselves for maybe something bigger. And then when that didn't materialize, it feels like Ken Holland just was on supermarket sweep. Like he was just throwing things in his basket as quickly as he could. I realized it feels like Ken Holland just was on supermarket sweep. He was just throwing things in his basket as quickly as he could. And it wasn't great.

Look, if you look at the totality of what they did, you could say that – I thought Dumoulin played really well for the Devils last year. I think that's a fine acquisition. I think Armie is fine for down your lineup. I think Perry obviously means they'll play for the Cup and lose. But like Cece is terrible for the way that they've cast him. Letty's cooked and Forsberg hasn't been good in at least two or three seasons as a goalie. And so like it's, it's a extremely mixed bag with no real home runs.

And it just feels, it feels scrambly. It feels like you got hired for a job and, and immediately you've announced that you're on several different projects and then you actually don't finish any of them. What it kind of feels like. Are the, are the oilers going to sell us on the, on the new goalie coach as reason to believe in the same

tandem that continues to be problematic for them? Well, speaking of problematic, I mean, I don't know if you guys noticed, but the Edmonton media, at least some of the Edmonton media have decided to quietly pivot to hoping that Carter Hart is exonerated and then is allowed to play in the NHL. We have discussed this, yes. Yeah, that's an interest. I mean, you know, I would not expect anything less from the team that hired Stan Bowman,

but you know, if we're on the, we hope that Carter Hart is found not liable for like sexual assault or whatever we're up against there in that child is, I mean, that's where we are on the Edmonton goaltending right now, I suppose. So look, I don't know. I mean, I wrote about this earlier this summer about what Connor McDavid's situation is there.

And the three options on the table is that he leaves, he signs a dry side like long-term deal or he signed something short. And it's all contingent on what he hears from this team and what he sees them do and what the plan is going forward. Now if we're taking a short-term view of it and he obviously is under contract for next season he's probably not all that happy with how the team is trending right now. There hasn't really been, I mean keeping Bouchard's a nice bit of business and it certainly was under threat of offer

sheet I think, you know, until they got him signed. But the rest of the team is not necessarily like better in any way and they clearly haven't addressed the goaltending situation at all. So I mean, we'll see. They got a sell job to do with the best player in the world and I don't think they've necessarily closed the deal yet. I wonder if the Pittsburgh Penguins could be in, well, not a good position for next season,

but in a decent position if they want to sell Brian Rust or Ricard Raquel, because I imagine there's a lot of teams that would be interested in adding those two players. They do and I'm really curious, I wish I could like get Dubas to like have a beer or whatever he drinks. And look into his eyes because he doesn't like wearing the glasses anymore. He's now, I don't know if you guys noticed, but the glasses have been missing.

He's glassless. I know. Yeah, yeah. Glassesless. He's gone from being, you know, Rivers Cuomo to name some other emo singer doesn't I always went with Harry Potter? But you can rivers co-work is a good one, too Yeah, I mean that that's definitely I mean that that the boy wizard. Yeah, I think you win that one. I see where I'm going here Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely

And ask him like what what do you know inherently about Sid's future? Because like, they clearly want, you know, Rust and Raquel are there for a reason, which is to kind of keep this team from not being an abject disaster. And if they both go, then the team's going to be an abject disaster, obviously in service of trying to draft McKenna, which is a smart thing to do. But what does that ultimately mean for Sid and how much do you know about what Sid's doing in the next two years? That's the real thing for me.

Canonically, around the NHL right now, the thought is he is there as long as Malkin is there. Yep. Well, Malkin signed for one more season. And so what does that mean? Does Malkin leave and then Sid leaves? Does Malkin retire? Like, what does it mean? Does Malkin leave and then Sid leaves? Does Malkin retire? Like what does it mean?

Does he want to be a Penguin? Everything right now is in service of what Sid wants to do, I think. And it's an interesting push-pull because what Sid wants to do will impact what they do in the next calendar year. But it's also going to be interesting to see what Sid wants to do commiserate with what Kyle has told them the franchise wants to do. So that's the whole thing for me in Pittsburgh right now. It's like where does Sidney Crosby see himself in 24 months?

For me it's the most singularly fascinating storyline in the NHL that we have zero intel on, which is perfect because it's about Sidney Crosby. And you know, he's the quiet superstar where nothing ever gets out. But we had those very cryptic tweets and leaks around the draft that got quickly shut down by his agent. And I don't think coincidentally, his good buddy Nathan McKinnon, who also shot it down. But if you look at where the team is at,

and you look at what Colorado was trying to do with clearing cap space and You talk about maybe there's only one year left to Jenny Malkin and then everything's opened up It points to an obvious answer that you know, Sid will play elsewhere I also you know, we've talked about this on the show before his involvement internationally and How well he played and how central a figure he still remains to those national teams leads me to believe that there's so much left in the tank that the next chapter, whatever is written, is going to be a pretty important one.

It won't be any sort of swan song type thing because, I mean, he was a huge factor for Canada at the Four Nations. He was one of the first six named to the Canadian team that's gonna be going to the Olympics. There's not a lot of signs of him slowing down, if any. So whatever comes next is gonna be a sort of seismic thing for him personally, his legacy, and for the rest of the league. This is not Mike Medano on the Red Wings. Yeah, right.

This is Tom Brady on the Bucks. Great comparison. Wherever he goes, he's gonna have an impact. It's not gonna be on the level. Great comparison. Wherever he goes, yeah, he's going to have an impact. It's not going to be on the level of Sid when he was 30, but it's going to be impactful. So everyone draws the Colorado thing because of McKinnon and there are other places I think that are kind of interesting for him as a Sid. But the other one that everyone who is near, you know, Sid's gravitational pole will tell you is Montreal. And, you know, the idea of him retiring with a team that

he has the utmost admiration for, a franchise, I should say, has the utmost admiration for, the idea that he could slide in and play first line minutes there, which I think is also something that we have to kind of remember. This is Sidney Crosby we're talking about and you know, we just got done talking about second line centers. Do you think he wants to take second line ice time behind McKinnon or do you think he wants to be Sidney Crosby? I think that's something that we kind of underrate in so far as the Sid and Nate thing. Oh, I mentioned this with Jeff Merrick yesterday when we did his show The Sheet. My hockey fantasy, my hockey dream right now is the Penguins are in the toilet, like they're

cooked, like no one wants to play for them anymore. So now Sid and Gino both need a place to play next year. They're playing out the string, they're getting nostalgic, they go to Washington. Like how baller would that be? How amazing would that be? That would be great. How amazing would that be? It's like the bucket list, that movie where all the old guys do the things they've always

wanted to do before they die. Did Geno and Ovi, who signs a one-year deal just to stick around to play with these knuckleheads, play on the capitals together. Like how incredible. I know this is my bittersweet Gen X heart wishing for something to tie a bow around one of my favorite eras in the history of sports, the Sid and Ovi era. But like, my God, can you imagine? Get Kovalchuk out of retirement, bring them on. Bring them all together. You know where my mind went in the last little, when you, when you mentioned

Sid to Montreal, I was like, Sid goes to Montreal and McDavid goes to Toronto. And then the original six, there's the original six battle to return the cup to Canada. Um, I don't think that is going to happen. Uh, but, um, do you, do you think we'll hear any news on McDavid this off season? Do you think that's going to get done, whether it's a short-term deal or a long-term deal? Do you think that gets done this off season or is there the potential for it to drag into

the season? I think that the potential is there for it to drag into the season, but I also think that Connor's smart and he knows that ultimately that's probably not the best thing for him or the team is to have a drag. We found out about dry saddle, I think, the first week in September last year. I kind of imagine we'll have an inkling of what's going to happen before camp. Again, the smart money is on him signing something short, short term. You know, I don't, I don't necessarily think he's going to commit, you know,

another eight years of franchise, but I do think that going short term gives him a chance, a couple more kicks at the can of it this year, next year, and then four other times or three other times with Leon and then, you know, if it doesn't work out, you're still in your early 30s and will become the biggest unrestricted free agent in the history of hockey still. Kind of all makes sense and you know his agent Judd Moldaver has now become infamous for getting guys on shorter-term contracts. He did two of them with Matthews, he did a shorter-term deal with Warrensky in Columbus. So it's kind of his new agent's M.O. to do this anyway.

And I just think that it satisfies both of the things that McDavid might want to satisfy. Give it give it give it another shot and see his way through with Edmonton. And then and then also still be, you know, young enough and relevant enough to to max out a contract as a free agent if you wanted to. Wish, it's been another fantastic season with you, my friend. Thank you as always for doing this. We can't tell you enough how much we enjoy

having you on this program. Well, I appreciate that, boys. And you guys have a great summer. And we'll do this again when they start going to camp and seeing who had too much beer in the summer, that's my favorite thing to see in camp. Who had too much beer? Love it. Thanks, buddy. Appreciate it. Yeah. Bye bye. Bye. Thanks, Bush.

Greg Wyshinski from ESPN here on the Halford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. He was right. Dry Cytle signed on September 3rd last year. I kind of remember a lot of people being pulled out of mothballs or like, oh, we have to write about hockey because it was just came out of nowhere on September 3rd. Anyway, uh, we got a lot more to get to on the health and in breath show on sports net six 50. We hit the midway point of the show reminder, get your what we learns in Dunbar Lumber, text message in basket is at six 50,

six 50. Tell us what you learned over the last 24 hours in sports hashtag at WWL coming up on the other side of the break, we're going to talk to Eric Francis, Calgary flames reporter for sports net. Maybe we'll do the flames and the oilers here. Cause it was a bit of news about the oilers yesterday. We just talked about them and gave everything with wish we'll talk flames with Eric Francis. That'll take us through to eight o'clock. And then at eight o'clock BC lions starting quarterback, Nathan Rourke is going to join the program at

eight 30. We're going to do what we learn. We are also going to announce the winner of the Jays Care 5050 ticket sales ended last night. The draw ended last night at 830 this morning. We're going to announce the winner. You're listening to the Halford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Vic Nazar. Have your say and join me on the People's Show with big takes and even bigger bets, weekdays three to four on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts.

["The Big Show Theme"] 733 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday everybody. Halford Brough Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest. This is them online at sands-trustee.com. We are in our two of the program. We're at the midway point of the show. Eric Francis from Sportscent and Calgary is going to join us in just a moment here. Our two of this program is brought to you by Jason Hominuk at jason.mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage,

then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at jason.mortgage. To the phone line we go, the Power West Industries hotline. Eric Francis from Sportsnet in Calgary joins us now on the Haliford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Eric. How are you? I am fantastic.

We're in the middle of the stampede, so life is a bit of a whirlwind, but it's a ton of fun. Mike and I were just in Calgary for the stampede. First time I've ever been. Seriously? Yeah, it was, what an awesome time. Yeah, I can confirm. Honestly, I can confirm.

I will always hate the flames, but I have to say that Calgary just does such a good job with that event and you can see the pride that the city puts into it. And, uh, you know, I know you're, uh, you've been, have you been a Calgarian your whole life, Eric? You know, I moved here 30 years, but instantly fell in love with exactly what you're talking about. Yeah.

Like it's, it's that I, I sometimes think Vancouver might have become too big to do something like that. Um, but, but anyway, just congratulations to Calgary on, on putting on a, on a good fun event, I guess. That's awesome. I'm glad you guys came out because I, you know,

so many Canadians don't, a lot of Canadians do come and experience Stampede and it's so unique, but it's that civic pride and we're all in this together. And I always say about Stampede, I've been here 30 years, spent every Stampede, I've been here 30 years, been to every Stampede. I've been Stampeding now for six days in a row.

Gets a little old sometimes, but I've never seen a fight. I've never seen a fight in 30 years. And when you consider the fact that most of the city is drunk, that's quite a state, but you know, you're more apt to see someone spill a beer on someone and that guy turn around and buy the other guy six shots. Like that's the kind of buy the other guy six shots. Like that's the kind of hospitality that we're all about.

So yeah, thanks for coming. We really appreciate it. Yeah, I can also confirm the alcohol thing. Definitely confirm that. That's very accurate. You know what is funny when we were talking about what we wanted to do today, we're like, we should check in on Calgary and Edmonton.

And then of course you've got your most recent piece up on sportsnet.ca. And then I was thinking back and I'm like, that's been an awfully quiet off season in Calgary and Edmonton and then of course you've got your most recent piece up on Sportsnet.ca and then I was thinking back and I'm like that's been an awfully quiet offseason in Calgary and then I checked the free agency tracker and I was like yep can confirm that as well. Very quiet offseason. A matter of fact just a couple of minor departures and no major incoming players so Calgary is pretty much gonna open this season I think with a roster nearly identical to the one that they end last season with.

What are you looking forward to going into next season? What still needs to be accomplished this off season or is Craig Connery's work pretty much done? Really the only thing he's got to do is deal with Rasmus Anderson. You know, he's going to trade him. Just the question is, do you trade him in the summer or do you wait till the season and risk injury and hope that his value will go up even higher? That's that's that and signing

Conor Zeri, who's a restricted free agent, which won't take much time. So his work is mostly done. And it's funny when you when when I hear you say it, like they didn't really do much in the off season, you know, and that's exactly the column I wrote the other day. But it almost there's a negative connotation with that. They missed the playoffs and they're gonna bring back the same group. But that's exactly what everybody in this city wanted. And I think that's what the plan was all along.

Listen, they won their final, they were undefeated their last eight games. They won 11, two and three in the finale. And a lot of people say, yeah, but that's meaningless hockey but it wasn't meaningless hockey they were fighting for their lives and still winning a ton of games and they did it with the crew that they're gonna bring back next year and they're all gonna be just a little bit older a little bit wiser and they

still wanted to leave doors open for youngsters to continue to break through that's the future of this organization. So that's what they did. He said he chased after a couple guys at free agency, but nothing came to fruition. So he's trodden back the same crew again. Yeah, I like it with Jason, the rivalry between Vancouver and Calgary, especially with regards to the hockey teams

is pretty apparent. But even I begrudgingly, I had to admit last year, that was one of the most admirable teams I'd seen in the NHL in probably the last decade, given what they had available to them on the roster and where they were at on paper and then what they were able to accomplish. You look at them and a 96 point team, there's 41 wins and the way that they played down the stretch, that sort of never say die attitude, I got to imagine that really endeared them to a lot of people in Calgary.

Oh yeah, people love this team and that's another reason why nobody wanted massive changes. They didn't want them to bring in an Anthony Manta or Tyson Berry or some veteran who's gonna steal the job and minutes away from one of these young guys who people are buying jerseys of like crazy and buying their tickets for to see. They wanna see how Matt Coronado continues to develop

or the latest kind of revelation at the end of the year was six foot eight Adam Klapka. And they put him on the top line the last three weeks and he had like a point of game. He was pretty good. Suddenly everyone's like, well wait, maybe he's the next Alexey Protas. These are things that people look forward to

in the dog days of summer when they think about their Flames team. And I know it doesn't excite people outside the market, but damn it, these kids kind of bought into that never say die attitude you spoke of. And that is why this team is very popular at this point in time. Just to play devil's advocate, we've been

talking a lot about the lack of second line centers or just centers in general. And we have heard Nazem Kadri's name in rumors and in speculation. Um, if the flames were to figure out a trade for Nazem Kadri, I imagine the price would be pretty steep and they could probably get some even more futures for, uh for the prospect pool.

What are the organization's thoughts on Nazem Qadri? And I know he's got a full no move clause for now. I think that turns into a no trade clause next summer, but what are they thinking about with him? There is not an indication from anyone I've spoken to in the organization to move Nazem Qadri. I mean, he was their best player last year without question.

And one of the guys who kind of helped set the tone and lead the charge and establish this baseline of what's expected around here for the youngsters. And so I do hear the rumors all the time. I get the feeling that there'll be Nazem Qadri rumors the rest of his career, no matter where he is. He seems to be one of those guys who forever in Toronto, it doesn't matter where he goes, there was always trade rumors around Nazem Kadri. And there's no desire here to trade him. And it's funny because when they first signed him, I think it was seven years, $7 million a year, I remember people lumping him into that category of untradable contracts like Jonathan Hubertos. I beg to differ now after the season he just had 30 goals

and led the team in so many different ways. I think teams around the league, I don't think there's a team in the league that wouldn't pay $7 million for Nazem Kadri right now, whether he'd be in a first or second line role or even a third line role on a really deep team. Where's the excitement level for Zayn Perak right now?

You could say it's, it's the, I mean, think about how exciting it was in this city. You know, even from a prior, you guys heard the, the Dustin Wolf buzz. I mean, he was the biggest reason why this team was, you know, in a playoff hunt last year, multiply that, you know, by, you know, in a playoff hunt last year, uh, multiply that, you know, by, you know, by two, uh, for Zane Perrec, people are just so excited about a guy who they think could be a transformative defenseman and, you know, I don't want to compare him to Quinn Hughes, but he's that type of dynamic guy who can, who can dictate the play, you know, if he can get up to speed on this level, like

he's only done it in the junior level. So everybody needs to maybe calm down a little bit, but, um, you know, if he can get up to speed on this level. Like he's only done it in the junior level. So everybody needs to maybe calm down a little bit. But, um, you know, the one stat that I throw out and everybody's heard about him is he's the only guy in OHL history to go back to back 30 goal seasons as a defenseman, the only other guy to do that was Bobby Orr. So that's a pretty good company. He's got a ton of swagger. He's undersized, but, uh, I'm not sure I've seen a better skater come through Calgary in a

lot of years. Well, and add a couple first round picks in this most recent draft, including Cole Reschney, who a lot of people in BC know because he starred for the Victoria Royals. There must be a lot of excitement and anticipation for the future in Calgary. I don't know if it's going to link up exactly with the new arena, but is that kind of the thought that you've got that they're going to, I don't know. I don't know if you want to say the flames are

going to be reborn in the new arena, but you know, there can be excitement about a team that works hard and nearly makes the playoffs and it's admirable, but I'm sure there's a lot of Flames fans that want to get the Flames back to being an elite team in the NHL. Oh yeah, and you're right. I don't think it's a coincidence. This team is aiming to be somewhat of a contender in two years

when the new arena opens. It opens in the summer of 2027. That's the plan. That's the way the blueprints are looking right now. Maybe it's a little overly ambitious, but you're right. You can't sell out a new building with the, I'm sure prices are going to go through the roof, you know, based just on hard work, you got to have your stars, your Zane Perrex. Hopefully by then he's, you know, established himself as a star in the league. You know, by then I would assume guys like Kaudhary would be cashed in on potentially, Michael Backlund will be retired. You know, the team will have a whole new look and it'll be a youth movement for sure. So, uh, I will say this too, by the time 27 rolls around and a new building is there,

you could expect that this big podcast that the Calgary flames have at their disposal right now, um, will start to be dipped into, uh, right now it doesn't make any sense for them to go make a big splash. Listen, if Miko Ratnan was available this summer or Sam Bennett, I guarantee you the Calgary Flames would have been in there like everybody else. I'm not saying they would have come here, but they would have tried to get those guys. They will definitely make a big splash in free agency at some point. It'll probably be around that summer of 2027 to add to the excitement of the new building.

Real quick before we let you go, you mentioned Bennett there. Where's the lament level in, in Calgary? Have they gotten over it? I know in Vancouver, we always be moan ones that got away, even guys that we wanted to go away. Um, when they do stuff in the play, when they do stuff in the playoffs, it always bubbles back to the surface. So I'm curious about, curious about the Bennett lament in Calgary. You know, it's funny talking to people through Stampede and all through the playoffs. People are really happy for Sam Bennett in this city. There's

no lament at all. I mean, I guess people, you know, the big picture look back and go, oh my God, we used to have Kajro, Kachuk, Bennett, Lindholm. Like we had a hell of a team here at one point. But anyway, people are very excited for him. And I think they are, people generally are angry at the way the flames gave up on Bennett. So they don't blame Bennett. They blame Brad Trilliving when it comes to Sam Bennett. So they were happy for him. I think there is a source of pride in this city for Bennett and Kachuk

for winning a cup. And especially since they did it at the expense of the Edmonton Oilers. That was very, very, very popular around these parts. Let me tell you, those guys are almost heroes at this point. I was laughing because I saw a few Florida Panthers hats at the Stampede in Calgary. And I thought that was pretty funny too. I was at a party that was this garden party they have every year. It's kind of this swanky event.

This year they said just a jersey. All you can do is wear a jersey instead of getting all gussied up. And I wore a Florida Panthers Matthew Kachuk jersey. As Bob Harley used to say, I was the porcupine at the balloon party. There were a ton of oilers bands there and they did not appreciate that gesture and I thought it was perfect. Eric, this was great buddy. Thanks for taking the time to do this. We appreciate it.

Enjoy the rest of the Stampede. Hey, see you boys and thanks so much for coming down to Stampede. Come back next year, y'all. Can do. Maybe we'll do. I physically can't. Yeah. Eric Francis from Sportsnet here on the Halford & Rough show

on Sportsnet 650, live from Stampede, which rolls on in Calgary. So we did the Calgary side of things from Alberta. I did want to mention the Edmonton Oilers because we've talked about them a little bit. And as we continue to go through this off season, I think we're going to do the occasional check-in on the Pacific division and do a part reset about what teams have done or more specifically what

they haven't done. Can I just share some betting odds that I got? Yeah, let's go for it. Just emailed to me. I love betting odds. From some sports book. Okay. Pacific division odds, the Edmonton Oilers are

the favorites at three to two. Okay. Vegas, Pacific division odds. The Edmonton Oilers are the favorites at three to two. Okay. Vegas Golden Knights close after that, seven to four. Okay. And then it's the LA Kings at 15 to four. So let's say, let's call the LA Kings four to one. Okay. Okay.

You can do that. Yep. Um, the Canucks are in fourth at 14 to one. So there's quite a bit of separation between the Kings and the Canucks. And then after that, there's quite a bit of separation between the Canucks and the Flames. Canucks 14 to one, Flames 25 to one.

And then you got the Ducks at 50, Seattle at 66, and San Jose at 250. I think a lot of people have the Kings in their sites, if they're Canucks fans. But you know, as much as they did, maybe spend too much money on CC and Dumoulin. They've still got the team that did pretty well in the regular season last year.

Yeah, I'm very torn on Los Angeles because it seems like they're a little bit rudderless right now. It seems like the off season was the biggest change in the off season was at a managerial level, right? Rob Blake out, Ken Holland in. So you've got a new vision moving forward. I thought keeping Jim Heller around was a bit of a

crazy move in light of his failings in the post season. You know, when they released, speaking of odds, when they released the odds for first coach fired. Jim Hiller is number one on that list. I bet he's close. He's got to be. So we just talked to Eric Francis about the Calgary Flames depth chart because all the beat writers are writing it for sportsnet.ca.

Mark Spector wrote on the Oilers depth chart and the top line, you're okay with Nugent, Hopkins, McDavid and Hyman, even if Hyman's going to miss the first little bit of the season, returning from his wrist injury. The second line has dry sidle, which is good, between Mangiapani and the kid, Matt Savoy. That's their second line.

That's the depth chart that Speck has. And then you've got long-term signing Trent Frederick as the third line center between Adam Henrique and Tomasek? Who's that? Is that? Ah, he signed from Europe. Oh, okay.

David Tomasek. Okay. And then the fourth line is Jan Mark between Podkols and Kapanen. They've got a couple extra forwards in Curtis Lazar, remember him? Oh yeah. And Max Jones.

Sam and I was very young. I got to be honest with you. I know I'm never going to count out a team with McDavid and Dry Cytl and you know, veterans like Nuge and Hyman, they're still good players, but that looks really thin to me. That looks like really, really thin. When you look at their playoff performance,

it does sting, and I'm talking playoffs only here, but it does sting that they lost Evander Kane, Connor Brown, Corey Perry, and to a lesser degree, Jeff Skinner. I mean, especially Perry. Perry did a ton of heavy lifting for them in the playoffs. Scored a lot of goals. Right.

And the replacements, you're kind of seeing a trend here in Edmonton where they fill the margins every summer. They bring in new guys. It's always this sort of cast of either veteran journeyman wingers or young guys that they wanna take a chance on. And I think that's gonna be the blueprint

for the foreseeable future while you've got the amount of money that you've got tied up in Dry Settle and McDavid. Yeah. So here's the thing. And those guys are so good, like I wouldn't be surprised if Matt Savoy comes in and plays really well as a rookie.

I would not be surprised if Manjie Pani has Yes. 25 goals next year. He has 35 as a flame. Yeah. But it's been a while. A few years ago. Yeah. But you know, it's saying, well,

Connor Brown and Corey Perry and Evander Kane all gave good contributions during their time on the wings in Edmonton. I think the answer is we will find other Connor Browns and Corey Perrys and Evander Canes because guys are going to get their numbers when they play with McDavid and Dreisaitl. The issue for them is the goaltending and it still remains unresolved. And let's be clear, they want to change this up. Elliot Friedman had a report on NHL Network, the opening day of free agency saying that

on that Tuesday, July 1, when Stan Bowman and the Euler's brass went into unrestricted free agency, they were trying to find a different solution in that. The plan was not, when the dust settled on free agency, to still have the Skinner-Pickard duo as your one-two end goal. Now we've talked- Look at their playoff numbers.

Skinner had an 889, Pickard had an 886. I think after two- And they made it to the Stanley Cup final. So on the one hand, you're saying, well, why not go with this very cheap tandem in goal because it's gotten you within one and two wins of the Stanley Cup in consecutive years. The only other goaltending duo that beat you,

or sorry, goaltending situation that beat you was Florida's. And you could make that argument. The issue is I think as every day passes less and less people are buying and we had Jason Greger on the show From sports 1440 and Edmonton numerous times throughout the playoffs. He always did bring up a salient point the Edmonton Oilers by design aren't supposed to have Great goal tending because the Edmonton Oilers don't spend to have great goaltending. They spend to have good goaltending

because they've got a great team, including the best player in the world in front of said goaltending. And I've got time for that logic. The issue is, is that that logic has played itself out now. So you've got proof of concept or in the case of the Oilers, lack of proof, because I would say one of the things that's holding them back right now in the post season,

especially when it gets into the crunch time, is they get out goalied. And it happened twice with Bobrovsky. And I think when you look at that, that tandem in particular, it's hard to say we want to run it back with these guys again for a third time. You know the contract that sticks out like a sore thumb, Darnell Nurse, but

he's got the full no move and he's basically said, I'm not moving. So what are you going to do? Like they are, they do have cap limitations there. Yep. So I don't know. And you know, the issue is they also don't have a ton of young talent coming because they've been a contending team for a while.

You shouldn't expect them to have a ton of young talent coming, which is why there's going to be so many expectations on a 21 year old in Matt Savoy to essentially go, okay, you're in the NHL now, you're a top six forward. But as we draw this back to the Canucks, like they're in the NHL now, you're a top six forward. But as we draw this back to the Canucks, like they're still the team to beat in the division for me. And I don't, is anyone pushing back on that?

Is anyone? Is anyone? I think Vegas is right there with them. I think Vegas is right there. The knocks that Vegas took on defense this off season, I think it's gonna hurt them more than a lot of people understand. What if they get Rasmus Anderson out of Calgary?

I think it's. Then you have to admit that changes things. It makes them right there with Edmonton is the two, like right now I would say that Vegas is in a class lower than Edmonton because. I would like Vegas' blue line a lot more than Edmonton's blue line if they get Rasmus Anderson. And frankly, maybe now.

Without Patrangelo and Haig, who was like a top four guy for them, though that's two big losses to suffer in an off season. Like say what you will about the way Patrangelo played last year, he was still a minute muncher for them and he was on the ice a lot. Now, you know, their postseason was unspectacular by their standards and they had to make a move.

But if they, I mean, if everything is put it this way, if their entire season is banking on getting Rasmus Anderson out of Calgary, well, one, it has to happen and two, if it doesn't, what's your plan B? Because then you go in and you've got a blue line that's inferior to a lot of them in that division, in that division. If you've gone from having one of the best blue lines to having two guys that you like and four guys that you're not 100% sure of. So I think it's gonna be really interesting to watch Vegas.

We'll continue this conversation as we go along. We'll look at the rest of the Stanley Cup contenders in terms of the tiers that we've got them in. On the other side of the break though, we're gonna turn our attention to the Canadian Football League, specifically the BC Lions starting quarterback for your BC Lions Nathan Rourke is going to join the program next after a really gutsy and gritty 21-20 walk-off comeback win on a field goal from Sean White in Montreal on the weekend we'll talk to Nathan Rourke coming up next and then we'll dive back into the hockey stuff at 830 not only are we gonna do what we learn we're also gonna announce the winner of this year's Jays Care 50-50 for Challenger Baseball we did the draw last night we're gonna announce the winner of this year's Jays Care 50-50 for Challenger Baseball. We did the draw last night. We're going to announce the winner

live on air at 830 this morning. And finally, finally before we go to break, I need to tell you about Jan Pro. From warehouses to washrooms and everywhere in between, Jan Pro keeps workplaces tidy, clean, and disinfected. For a free quote visit them online at JanPro.ca. You're listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.